


Rebuilding

by BHP



Category: Magnum P.I. (TV 2018)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 21:26:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29798109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BHP/pseuds/BHP
Summary: It’s a simple case. But investigating it leads Magnum and Higgins to some disturbing news – Katsumoto has been suspended, and now he’s not answering his phone …
Comments: 12
Kudos: 30





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is set in Season 2, after episode 7 ‘The man in the secret room’, but before episode 11 ‘Day I met the devil’. As usual with me, though, this story refers to things that happened in episode 7, along with some of the major events that happened in other episodes before this one, from both seasons. There are also references to some of my other stories – the ones set in Season 1 and Season 2, as well as the ones set between the two seasons.
> 
> All the usual disclaimers apply – I don’t own the show or the characters, only the words on this page. As always, I’d love to hear what you think. This is also posted on FF.net.

“Maybe this was a mistake.”

Lewis Harrison sounded as though he wished he were anywhere else. Which was a problem for him, Magnum thought, as Lewis was currently sitting in his own office, behind a very modern glass and steel desk that Magnum personally considered to be hideous. The sleek metal pen and paper holders, the silver storage box and brushed silver laptop added to the high-tech look.

Magnum decided he much preferred the solid wooden desk that graced Juliet’s office at the estate. Wood always offered that sense of permanence, a stability and warmth lacking in most modern furniture. Metal just seemed cold and hard.

“Maybe.” Higgins nodded slowly as she appeared to agree with Lewis. But her eyes met Magnum’s, and he caught the look she sent him.

“But isn’t it better to be sure?” He offered the statement half as a question, keeping his tone calm and thoughtful. “I know you don’t like to think that your partner might be doing something – odd – but if we look into things for you …”

“We can put your mind at ease, one way or the other.” Higgins finished the sentence, and Magnum nodded.

Lewis sighed heavily, tilting his office chair back on its spindly legs to balance at a dangerous angle and scrubbing his hands through his greying brown hair. He looked to be in his mid-forties, with the build of someone who did a lot of physical work. A conclusion borne out by the tan which suggested hours in the Hawaiian sun.

His green eyes met Magnum’s and the investigator could see the sadness Lewis was trying to hide. Nick Stevens was obviously more than just a business partner to Lewis, and the man’s next words confirmed Magnum’s intuition.

“You’re right. I know you are, but it just feels so wrong to be asking you to investigate my partner. My friend.”

Lewis stared at the ceiling for moment, then dropped his chair back to the floor. He stared out the large window to his right, clearly not seeing the parking lot where Magnum had parked the Ferrari. The sun was bright this morning, which Magnum could only assume was a good thing for a landscaping company.

He flicked a glance at Higgins and saw the same empathy in her eyes that he felt. They both knew how it felt to have someone you trusted betray you. And even knowing as little as they currently did about Lewis Harrison’s concerns, Magnum was sure this case was not going to work out well for the man.

“Okay.” Lewis sighed again, then flipped open the storage box to pull out a small black flash drive and offered it to Higgins. She took it, and tipped her head to the side in a question.

“And this is?”

“Everything about the company. Our articles of incorporation, company documents, partnership agreements, current and past contracts, leases. Our accounts. Especially our accounts. I’m sure there’s something odd there, but I just don’t know what I’m looking for.” Lewis looked out the window again, letting his gaze rest on the large sign at the edge of the property. “H&S Landscapers.” He shook his head. “It was our dream for years. From when we were in high school together. We were going to be the best landscapers in Honolulu, design the sort of gardens that were featured in magazines.”

“Well, you certainly achieved that aim.” Higgins shifted in her chair, slipping the flash drive into the pocket of her pale green trousers. She pulled the hem of her peach and green patterned top down again as she settled back into her chair. “Ian and Judy Howard were thrilled with the work you did for them.”

“That job was a pleasure.” Lewis smiled broadly for a moment, happiness filling his words before his face fell again. “They actually suggested I call you two. They said you were responsible for finding the people who poisoned their dogs six months ago. And that you were … discreet.”

“Yes, we did provide the police with some assistance in finding those men.” Magnum kept his tone neutral, trying not to dwell on the details of that case. Or the weeks that had followed being shot by one of the men in question. His hand brushed across his left thigh, rubbing gently over the black jeans that covered the scar that day had left on his leg. For a moment, his red and white patterned shirt didn’t seem warm enough, but the chill passed as he forced his mind back to Lewis Harrison’s problem.

He shared a glance with Higgins, raising an eyebrow to ask the question and catching the slight dip of her head in response. They were in agreement.

He rose to his feet then, offering a hand to Higgins as she rose, and smiling at the very old-fashioned look she gave him. She was far too independent to need his help, but also far too polite to call him on offering her a hand. At least, far too polite in company other than their friends.

“We’ll start looking into this for you today. And we’ll be in touch as soon as we have anything to tell you.”

“Thank you for the files.” Higgins added quietly. “Rest assured that we will make sure that no-one else has access to them.”

“Thanks. But I’ve got nothing to hide.” Lewis shook their hands and walked with them to the office door. “I only hope that the same is true of Nick.”

Magnum felt the man watching them as they walked back to the Ferrari, the desperate need in that gaze weighing on him. Higgins was silent too, suggesting that he wasn’t the only one affected by the case they’d just taken on.

He let his mind wander freely while he guided the Ferrari back towards the estate. He and Higgins had been very busy for the last two weeks, ever since he’d filled in for his friend Russell as a hotel detective for a couple of days.

They’d had a run of small cases, with something new nearly every second day. A cheating husband, a missing watch, two runaways from high school, one case of identity fraud, and a stolen car. And every case had been in a different part of the island. Clearly, Higgins had been trying to keep him busy and on the move.

Not to mention, TC had asked Magnum to fly with him to test out a possible new helicopter tour route showcasing lookout points on hiking trails, and Rick had asked him to run background checks on two potential new waiters at La Mariana.

Two more people finding ways to keep him occupied.

Then Kumu had organised a weekend barbecue and invited all their ‘ohana, including Shammy and Katsumoto. That had been a day to remember.

Even if he had felt them all watching him, all the time. He’d done his best to ignore the glances they shared with each other when they thought he wasn’t looking, the worried looks and lingering concern in their eyes. He knew they were worried about him, and his state of mind since Abby had broken up with him and moved back to the mainland.

He wondered if they knew how obvious it was that they were watching him. They had to know that he’d realised what they were doing. But they were only worrying because they cared, so he could hardly be angry at them for that. Although the continual concern was wearing him down, almost as much as missing Abby was wearing on him.

Being without her was painful. He remembered telling Katsumoto, just two weeks earlier, that he and Abby had just been getting to know each other. That the relationship hadn’t been that serious yet. Which was the truth, but also not the whole truth.

He’d thought, even hoped, somewhere deep inside, that there could have been a long-term future for them. But he should have known better. He’d had it all go wrong with Hannah, years ago, and he’d hoped that he’d learned enough from that monumental disaster to do better in his next serious relationship.

But he’d managed to screw things up with Abby, too. As he probably should have expected. The universe clearly had no plans to give him any sort of happy ending in his life. And he guessed that he could learn to make his peace with that, eventually. Just as long as he didn’t drag any of his family down with him.

So no, he wasn’t really as fine as he kept telling everyone he was, but he’d get there eventually. He hoped so, at least.

He rolled to a stop at the last traffic signal before the turn onto the coastal highway. The light turned green, and he checked in both directions before pulling onto the highway, using the movement to sneak a glance at Higgins. Her face was filled with concern again, and he watched her shutter the emotion as soon as she saw him looking at her.

He sighed quietly, but forced himself not to mention what he’d seen.

“Thoughts?” He tossed the question out casually, wondering if she’d follow his lead.

Long moments later, a small sigh echoed his before Higgins spoke.

“I believe that Lewis Harrison is telling us the truth. Insofar as that goes.”

“Insofar?” Magnum couldn’t help the chuckle that followed the word.

“Yes, indeed.” Higgins matched his chuckle, patted her pocket and carried on speaking. “If he is willing to provide us with all the documentation on this drive, then I believe that he is telling us the truth.”

“But if he has all that information at his fingertips, it’s hard to believe that he doesn’t know more than he’s letting on.” Magnum’s concern over that bled into his words.

“That is my concern as well.” Higgins agreed, reaching up to tuck a wayward strand of hair behind her ear as the car picked up speed on the coastal road. Her gaze turned wary as she carried on. “I know it’s human nature to turn a blind eye to the things that make us uncomfortable …”

“It is.” Magnum agreed, but let the deeper implications of that sentence slide right off him. There was a grain of truth in there for him as well, as much as there was for Lewis Harrison. He could avoid talking about Abby – and Hannah, and every other burden he carried over the pain he’d brought to his friends – all he liked, but the pain was still there inside him.

“I think we’ve both had our share of experience with that sort of intentional blindness.” Juliet’s words carried a hint of suppressed pain, and Magnum’s mind went immediately to Ian Pryce. It was a good thing that Pryce was securely locked away on another continent. Anything less would have tempted Magnum to deliver justice for the suffering and all the lingering pain that traitor had caused Higgins. He was sure that Rick and TC would have helped him with a personal delivery of that justice too, no questions asked.

“I’ll give you that.” Magnum softened his tone for a moment, offering Higgins a touch of comfort and understanding. “But in this case, if Lewis is worried enough that he’s hired us, that only leaves us two options. Either Nick Stevens is really good at hiding evidence of whatever he’s doing and Lewis really can’t find the proof …”

“And Lewis can’t find that proof because he really doesn’t want to see it.” Higgins tossed the comment in and Magnum nodded his agreement.

“Or option number two is that …” Magnum left the words hanging, waiting to see if Higgins was thinking the same thing that he was.

“Lewis is involved in whatever is going on, and hired us to make himself look innocent.” Higgins finished the sentence, her voice sombre.

Magnum considered that for a second, then answered her in a tone equally serious.

“In which case, we could be walking into something really bad.”

MPI-MPI-MPI


	2. Chapter 2

The noon sun was baking the estate when the Ferrari rolled slowly through the gate. Magnum angled the car to catch the most shade possible from the trees in the parking area, knowing that they’d most likely be going out again that afternoon. Leather seats were lovely to sit on, but not when they’d been soaking up sunshine for hours.

He was still thinking over the meeting with Lewis Harrison, replaying the conversation over and over as he considered what the man had told them. Which was more than just the words Lewis had spoken. Magnum kept running over the man’s actions, how he’d welcomed them to his office, the tone of his voice when they’d left.

He knew Higgins was probably doing something similar, and wondered what she’d concluded. For the moment, he let her ponder and followed her into the main house, both of them turning in the direction of her office without conscious thought.

Higgins pulled the flash drive from her pocket, settled in behind her desk and flipped up the lid of her laptop. Moments later, she logged in and connected the drive. She ran her own security programme on it before opening the drive.

“Oh my word!”

“What’s wrong?” Magnum was at her side in a moment, looking over the screen to see what had caused such a stunned reaction from his partner.

“Nothing’s wrong, per se …” Higgins dragged the words out, sighing deeply. “But Lewis wasn’t kidding when he said he was giving us every document relating to the company.”

She waved a hand to indicate the screen, which was filling up rapidly with lists of files. The count shot up from a few to over a thousand in seconds, and Magnum shook his head. No wonder Higgins looked less than impressed. That amount of information was going to take hours to wade through.

“At least now we know why Lewis can’t find proof that his partner’s doing something shady.” Magnum nodded when Higgins tipped her head to the side and raised an eyebrow to him. “Yes, I believe Lewis. I don’t think he’s involved in whatever Nick Stevens is doing.”

“I agree.” Higgins nodded decisively. “Lewis would make a dreadful poker player.”

“You noticed that too.” Magnum shared a laugh with Higgins, then looked back at the screen. “This is going to take a while.”

“For me, you mean.” Higgins threw him a pointed look.

“Yeah, okay, for you.” Magnum grinned and shrugged one shoulder. “I’d offer to do it, but we both know you’d be pushing me out of the way in five minutes and taking over.”

“I suppose that’s true.” Higgins admitted, eyes dancing with laughter. “You really could learn to type, Magnum. It’s a valuable skill.”

“So’s learning to delegate work.” Magnum hopped backwards quickly as Higgins raised a hand to swat him. He raised his hands in surrender and smiled as he backed away from the desk. “I’ll just go find us something to eat while the files load. Coffee? Water?”

“Water, please.” Magnum nodded and headed to the kitchen. He made short work of putting together some sandwiches, then pulled two bottles of water from the fridge. He tucked the bottles under one arm, grabbed the two plates and headed back to the office.

Higgins nodded her thanks and set the bottle of water down in favour of the food. Silence filled the room as the food was consumed. Moments later, Magnum cracked open his bottle of water and drank some of it, watching Higgins as she kept an eye on the files loading on the laptop. He headed over to the desk, cracked her bottle open as well and then collected the two plates and took them back to the kitchen.

By the time he came back, Higgins had started tapping away at the keyboard, fingers flying as she dug through the files.

Magnum hitched one hip onto the desk and looked at the data scrolling up the screen. He was no expert, but it was clear that Higgins had started with the financial information. If there was anything strange going on, Nick Stevens had to be hiding the money somewhere. It was only logical.

A few minutes later, Juliet’s fingers froze on the keys for a moment.

“What is it?” Magnum stared hard at the data on the screen, not sure what Higgins was noticing. To him, it looked much like all the other spreadsheets.

“This.” Higgins pointed at an entry in the file. “It’s not wrong, really … but, there’s something odd about it.”

“Odd, how?”

“That’s the thing. It looks legitimate, and the name of the company involved sounds like one of the other companies that H&S Landscapers have been doing business with for years, but –”

“It’s not.” Magnum finished the sentence. Higgins nodded in agreement. “Which is why Lewis can’t find the evidence he’s looking for. Nick’s managed to hide it right in front of him.”

“Yes, indeed. Very clever.” Higgins murmured, fingers tapping on the keyboard again. “But not clever enough.”

Magnum read the full name of the company, committing it to memory before pulling his phone out of his pocket.

“I’ll just give Katsumoto a ring, ask him if that company name has come up in any other investigations recently.”

“Trying to stay on the detective’s good side, are we?” Humour filled the question.

“Would I do that?” Magnum joked back, scrolling to Katsumoto’s name in his contact list.

“In a heartbeat.” Higgins laughed out loud.

“Okay, okay, maybe that’s part of it. A very small part.” Magnum smiled, then carried on. “But it’s quicker than trying to hack the HPD system to find out.”

“True.” Higgins didn’t even bother to deny that she was capable of hacking the police system, and Magnum wondered suddenly whether it was even a true challenge of her abilities. Probably not, even if the HPD system was one of the most secure setups on the island.

He moved away to call Katsumoto, stepping out onto the deck near the koi pond. His gaze ran over the pond and for a moment, the familiar surge of anger rose as he thought about what had happened to Higgins there. But then he let the feeling slip away again, concentrating instead on the sounds he could hear behind him – sounds that let him know that Higgins was alive and well.

The call connected but Katsumoto didn’t speak. Magnum waited a moment, expecting the detective to say something sarcastic, or refuse to help him or speak to him. And then the line went dead.

Magnum pulled the phone from his ear and checked the reception, but he still had five bars. He shrugged, assuming it was a network issue somewhere on the island and tried again.

This time the call was cut off immediately.

Magnum stared at the blank screen of the phone for a moment, considering reasons the call could have been dropped. Then a sudden, unexplained chill ran down his spine and he found himself spinning on his heel and heading straight back into the office.

“Higgins.” He could hear the note of suppressed panic in his own voice, and wondered at it. What on earth had him so worried?

“Magnum? What’s going on?” Concern filled the questions.

“I don’t know.” Magnum lifted his phone and explained. “Katsumoto isn’t picking up. The first call was just dead air, and the second one wasn’t even picked up.”

“I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation.” Juliet’s tone was calm and unaffected.

“Yeah, okay. But do me a favour and call him from your phone as well.” Magnum couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

Higgins pulled up the detective’s number on her phone and hit the dial button. Moments later, that call ended without an answer. She tried one more time, and got the same response.

“There must be a network mast down wherever he is.” Higgins was unconcerned, and Magnum wished he could feel that sure. But he had no reason to suggest there was anything more to the problem than that, so he simply nodded. Higgins was probably right. But the sense of something being off-kilter lingered in the recesses of his mind.

“So I guess you’ll be visiting the HPD database after all.” He smiled at Higgins, burying his worry under a smile.

“It would seem so.” Suiting actions to words, Higgins opened a new window on her screen, tapping at lightning speed for a few seconds, then waiting as the HPD database appeared on the screen.

“That fast? Impressive.” Magnum raised an eyebrow at how quickly she’d got into the system.

“Not really.” Higgins ducked her head, but the faint blush on her cheeks caught Magnum’s attention.

“Oh?” He let the question linger, until Higgins couldn’t hold out any longer.

“Yes, well … I may have left myself a well-hidden backdoor into the system the last time I hacked it.”

“The last time?” Magnum asked.

“Yes. When TC was –”

“In the hospital.” Magnum finished the sentence grimly. He didn’t want to think about the details of those days again, so he let himself focus on the HPD database.

“You do know what you did is illegal?”

“I’m aware.” Higgins shot him an arch look, her tone dry. Then she smiled brightly. “But the odds were in my favour that we’d need access again – sooner rather than later – and I saw no point in doing the same work twice.”

Magnum stared at her for a moment, speechless in a way that seldom happened to him. Then he burst out laughing at her audacity. Higgins stared at him for a moment, then laughed as well.

She turned back to the screen, typed in Lewis Harrison’s name and waited to see whether the man was listed in the database at all. No hits at all.

Next up was Nick Stevens. No hits on him either.

Then she ran the name of the company, and found no mention of that either.

“So, that’s that.” Magnum sighed. “Guess we’ll have to do this the old-fashioned way. You want to ping his phone? Then we can spend the rest of the day tailing Stevens.”

“One moment.” Higgins navigated back to the main screen of the HPD database, then headed into a different section.

“What are you doing now?” Magnum leaned closer to get a good look.

“This section lists new cases. Things that are ongoing, new investigations, that sort of thing.” She skimmed the list and shook her head. “Nothing on Stevens or H&S Landscapers here.”

Then she froze, staring at the screen in shocked silence. Magnum ran his eyes down the list of cases, feeling the same sense of frozen disbelief fill him when he saw a familiar name in one of the entries on the screen.

Katsumoto, Gordon.

Higgins looked up at him, her eyes reflected the same stunned expression he was sure was plastered on his face.

“That’s … that just has to be wrong.” It was the only thing he could get out. Higgins simply nodded and turned her attention back to the screen.

Moments later, a case file opened and she ran her eye over it, highlighting the salient points.

“Today is Thursday, so this was file was opened on Tuesday afternoon.”

“For what?”

“Tampering with evidence.” Higgins tapped one finger lightly on the screen. “Gordon is suspended, pending a full IA investigation.”

“He would never. It has to be a set-up of some kind.” The words were out before Magnum even thought about it. “He won’t even accept free coffee.”

That Gordon Katsumoto was honest was one of the founding principles of the universe. There was simply no way that he would do anything like what the file said he had.

“They seem quite certain.” Higgins kept reading. “His badge number and signature are on the evidence log in question.”

“Forged.” Magnum’s tone was definite.

“The IA investigator seems to think not.”

“I will never believe that. Never.” Magnum was vehement. “Not without Gordon telling me that himself, and showing me a damn video to prove it.”

“Video.” Higgins tapped another key, then shook her head. “Well, this investigation is clearly a set-up.”

“I told you so.”

“Yes, you did. I never said I didn’t believe you.” Higgins agreed calmly.

“So?” Magnum’s tone begged more information.

“The camera at the evidence lock-up mysteriously malfunctioned on the day in question. And a new evidence clerk was filling in for Officer Iosua that day. And now that officer is currently on life support at King’s Medical after a motorbike accident on Wednesday morning.” She shook her head. “The criminal class is just so lacking in subtlety these days.”

Magnum had to laugh at that, in spite of the worry that filled him. He rested one hip on the desk as he stared into space for a moment.

“So why didn’t he tell us? Call us? Ask for help?” Magnum just couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that a friend was in trouble and hadn’t reached out to him. To any of the ‘ohana. “Does he still not trust me?”

“I don’t know.” Higgins sounded thoughtful. “Things seemed more normal after the two of you went for your little jaunt in the Ferrari a few weeks back.”

“That’s what I thought too.” Sadness crept into the words. Magnum looked down to find he was rubbing his fingertips over the material of his jeans. He stared for a second, then forced his fingers to remain still. “Was I wrong?”

“Perhaps, but I think not.” Higgins turned to face Magnum then, her certainty shining in her eyes. “If Katsumoto still had a problem with you, I believe he would simply tell you. He’s not done so, which leads me to believe that there is another reason for his silence.”

“A threat of some sort?” Magnum turned the idea over slowly. “But not to himself. That wouldn’t stop him doing what’s right.”

“True.”

“Which means that I’ll just have to find him, and make him tell me.” Magnum nodded decisively then looked at Higgins again.

“Ping his phone for me. Please.”

“Magnum, we already have a case. A client who is depending on us.” Juliet’s reluctance to change the subject was clear, but Magnum knew she was right. They couldn’t ignore Lewis Harrison or his case.

“I know. It’s just …”

“He’s family.” Juliet’s smile was gentle. “Even if he doesn’t realise it yet.”

“Yeah. He is.” Magnum agreed, smiling back. “And we need to help him, even if he is too stubborn to ask for help.”

“Oh, that’s rich, coming from you.” Juliet’s rejoinder was barbed.

“What? I ask for help all the time.” Magnum filled his tone with sincerity.

“Cadging favours from your friends is not the same thing as asking for help when you truly need it.” That answer made it clear that Higgins had a far deeper understanding of what went on in Magnum’s head than he’d ever given her credit for. And he’d given her a lot of credit, because she was quite possibly the smartest person he’d ever met.

He tipped his head to one side, meeting her gaze straight on, even if it took a huge amount of effort to keep his eyes fixed on her and not look away in embarrassment. She stared back at him, unblinking, then apparently decided to take pity on him. She nodded once and looked back at the laptop screen.

He sighed in relief, then turned his attention back to the problem at hand.

“We’ve got to do something. Ping his phone, okay?”

“And our other client?” He could hear that Higgins wanted to focus on Gordon as well, but her innate sense of fair play wouldn’t let her.

“Ping Nick Stevens’ phone too.”

“Magnum, you can’t follow two people at the same time.” Exasperation filled the statement. “And I have to keep digging through these files if we’re going to sort out Mr Harrison’s problem, so I can’t follow him around today either.”

“I’ll cadge a favour. Or two.” Magnum kept his tone neutral, letting a smile creep onto his face when Higgins looked sharply at him. “I’m sure Rick and TC will help out.”

Magnum checked his watch, then dialled Rick’s number, almost certain that TC would be with Rick at the moment. He knew the guys got together most days around midday, either to share lunch or just to check in with each other. If he was in the area, he would join them as often as he could.

Some military habits were hard to break, like getting up before dawn every day for no good reason. That had taken a few months of dedicated effort to consign to the past, and now he was only up that early if he wanted to watch the sunrise. Or if lingering nightmares made sleeping too difficult.

But some other habits, like checking in daily with your team, your family, stayed strong forever. So it was pretty much a certain thing that one call would find both his friends.

As soon as the call went through, Magnum dragged his mind back to business.

“Hey, Rick.”

“Thomas!” The usual happy answer was followed by a moment’s silence, which Magnum realised he’d allowed to last a moment too long when Rick spoked again. “What’s it this time, bud?”

He could hear TC’s voice in the background, but was unable to make out the words. The tone, on the other hand, was amused.

“I’m putting you on speaker, Rick. With me and Higgins.”

“Hey, Jules.” Rick’s voice rang out clearly and Higgins smiled.

“Hello, Rick. TC” She’d raised her voice enough to carry to the phone, but Magnum walked back across the room to stand next to her.

As he watched, she opened her tracking software and entered the mobile number for Nick Stevens.

“Guys, I need a favour.”

“Again, TM?” TC sounded like he was trying not to laugh.

“This is important.” Magnum protested.

“It’s always important.” Rick just laughed. “We’ve got our own businesses to look after, you know.”

“I know, but this time’s –”

“Different.” Two laughing voices chorused from the phone.

Even in the circumstances, Magnum had to laugh at that rejoinder.

“It really is.” He shook his head when Higgins smothered a chuckle as well. “Look, Higgins needs to dig into some files for the case we’re working on, so she’s stuck at the estate for a while. The guy we need to follow is at,” he looked down at the laptop screen and read off the address that Higgins pointed at, ”which is a garden centre.”

“A garden centre?” Rick sounded confused.

“Yeah. Our client, Lewis Harrison, owns a landscaping business. He thinks his partner, Nick Stevens, is up to something. He asked us to look into it.”

“And while we do your job, where will you be?” Rick asked, his amusement bleeding into the question.

“Looking for Katsumoto.” Magnum’s tone was deadly serious now, and the laughter on the other end of the call came to a sudden end.

“What’s going on?” Rick sounded sharply focused now.

“We don’t know. We … Higgins … was running a background check on a couple of people and we found out –” Magnum paused for a moment, pulling his thoughts together again.

“What?” TC sounded worried now.

“Katsumoto has been suspended. For evidence tampering.”

“No chance.” That was Rick.

“Not in this lifetime.” TC was adamant.

“We don’t know where he is. And he’s not answering calls from me, or Higgins. So Higgins is going to ping his phone for me so that I can go find him.”

“Sure.” Two voices answered as a duet again. The rush of relief that flowed through Magnum at hearing their answer was so strong he actually needed the support of Juliet’s desk for a moment.

“You find him, Thomas.” Rick’s voice was nothing but concern now. “We’ll follow the other guy for you. Just send us the details.” He paused for a long moment, then went on firmly. “If you need us, if Katsumoto needs us – for anything – you call.”

“He’s one of us.” TC added. “So, anything he needs. Any time.”

“Thanks, guys.” The unconditional support made it hard for Magnum to speak. He ended the call and found Higgins watching him closely.

“Okay.” He shifted her attention back to the screen as quickly as he could. “So, where is he?”

The address on the screen meant nothing to him, but when Higgins pulled up a map of the island, he recognised the area.

It was agricultural land, at least an hour’s drive from Honolulu. Using some of the back roads from the estate, he could probably make it there in about forty-five minutes, as long as speed limits were seen as suggestions rather than facts.

He took another look at the map, which Higgins had quickly enlarged and enhanced. The trees looked vaguely familiar, but he struggled to think why. But the pin for Katsumoto’s phone was steady outside what looked like a large plantation of some sort.

“Any idea what those trees are?”

“It’s a coffee plantation.” Higgins skimmed over the data on the screen. “Organic, small yield, good reputation in the market.”

“And yet, Katsumoto’s out there. So something else is obviously going on out there as well. Something illegal.” There was no doubt in Magnum’s voice.

“I’ve sent the location to your phone.” Higgins tapped once more, then turned a steady gaze on Magnum.

“I’ll stay here and keep digging through these files.” She waved a hand at the flash drive. “But as soon as I’m done, I’ll be joining you.”

“Thanks, Juliet.” Gratitude filled the words.

Higgins met his eyes, and nodded, concern written on her face.

“Go find him, Thomas. Find him, and help him.”

MPI-MPI-MPI


	3. Chapter 3

Rick headed out of La Mariana at a jog. He’d locked his office, then pulled Noah aside for a moment, telling him that he and TC needed to take care of some business urgently. He’d asked the young veteran to pass the message on to the bartender as soon as he could. But still, quick as he’d been, TC was hovering next to his Island Hoppers van with his keys in hand, ready to move out.

Anyone who didn’t know TC would have thought he was totally at ease, yellow Island Hoppers shirt flapping gently in the breeze, long legs in dark trousers, feet encased in dark sneakers. But Rick knew better, the tapping of TC’s right foot a dead giveaway of his friend’s eagerness to get moving. 

“Both vehicles?” TC’s question was almost a statement, and Rick nodded.

“Safer that way.” Rick nodded immediately. “If we think he’s spotted either of us, we can just swap off the tail for a bit.”

TC swung into his vehicle and started up, waiting for Rick to slip into his silver Porsche and do the same. Then he pulled out into the early afternoon traffic, heading for the garden centre Magnum’s target was visiting.

Rick pulled out behind him, making sure to stay where TC could see him in the rear-view mirror. He checked his phone again when they were stopped at a red light, seeing that Magnum had now sent a photo of Nick Stevens and details of the car the man was driving.

Stevens was tall with blonde hair and a lanky build. And he was driving a black Mercedes, with custom plates. Rick snorted in amusement when he read that fact.

Who did this guy think he was? Robin Masters?

An average guy with custom plates was just trying too hard. Sometimes it was enough to just survive what life threw at you, and know that you’d made it out the other side. Trying to look more important than that was just dumb.

Not to mention, custom plates always attracted the wrong sort of attention. Kawika had told him more than once that custom plates were like catnip for thieves; those plates implied you had money to burn, and any self-respecting thief was going to take you up on the offer.

His phone chimed and he looked down at the screen again. A single line message from TC flashed up: ‘Custom plates’ followed by a laughing face.

He laughed out loud at that, looking up to see TC glance back at him and share the humour. Then the light changed and they started off again.

Five minutes later, they pulled up outside the garden centre, Rick parking alongside TC’s van. The black Mercedes was still parked near the entrance and he stared at it in silence for a long moment.

“You want to take the lead first?” Rick tossed the question to TC, who nodded back.

“Sure.” He glanced around the neighbourhood, which was close to one of the market areas in Honolulu. “He won’t think twice about seeing the van around here. Lots of tourists.”

“I’ll hang back a bit, maybe a block behind you.” Rick confirmed with a smile. “But for now, I’m just going to wander in and see what our guy is doing.”

“You think that’s a good idea?”

“Can’t hurt to see what he’s doing.” Rick shrugged one shoulder. “Maybe I’ll see something Thomas can use.”

Rick headed into the garden centre, relishing the cool of the air conditioning as he stepped through the doors. His dark shirt, patterned with red and yellow leaves, was stuck to his back by the day’s heat, while his dark trousers and dress shoes added to that heat. For a second, he wished he could dress as casually as TC did.

Rick wandered slowly around the first few sections, spotting Nick Stevens in an area that seemed to be dedicated to ground covers. Rick was no gardening expert, but even he knew that Irish moss wasn’t good for anything other than filling gaps between flagstones.

The man was talking to one of the garden centre employees, pointing at various plants as he did so. Rick wandered a bit closer, and heard enough to know that the discussion was a technical one about growing conditions and shade requirements for specific types of plants. Not much use to Thomas, he was sure.

He headed back towards the exit, detouring to the small coffee bar situated just before the doors. He picked up two bottles of water, then browsed the selection of fruit juices and picked out two bottles of juice as well. He’d just paid for the drinks when he saw Stevens heading for the exit, so he picked up the pace and reached TC’s van just as Stevens came out the door.

“Here.” He passed TC one bottle of juice and one of water. “Don’t know how long this is going to take, but it’s going to get hot.”

“Thanks.” TC smiled and took the two bottles.

“You’d better get ready.” Rick glanced towards the Mercedes. “Looks like he’s about to head out.”

“I’m ready.” TC started the engine and offered Rick one more grin. “Try to keep up, Orville.”

“Fighting words, TC!” Rick laughed. “As if there’s any chance you could ever lose me.”

“Not when it matters, brother.” TC shot back, eyes suddenly deadly serious.

Rick caught the undertone and looked up, eyes equally serious.

“You know it.” He confirmed, silent for a moment. Then he shook off the sentiment and waved a hand towards the Mercedes. “But I was talking about tailing Stevens, big guy.”

“Sure you were.” TC agreed easily, and Rick knew his friend had seen right through him.

Just as TC always had been able to, and probably would always be able to do. Well, there were worse things to cope with in life than friends who always had your back and sometimes knew you better than you knew yourself. 

So he just smiled as he piled into his car, stowed his bottles and started the engine.

The first hour of tailing Stevens was painfully dull. He gone from that garden centre to another one, then a third; the last one had been far enough from Honolulu that Rick had taken the lead. The area was simply too far off the tourist routes for TC’s van to seem inconspicuous.

Then Stevens had headed back towards the city and Rick had indicated that TC should head past his car again. This time, the trip had ended at a small construction business. The small office on the far side of the lot seemed to be surrounded by piles of cement slabs and beams. An actual concrete jungle.

Rick parked at the far edge of the parking lot, just two spots away from TC’s van. He headed over to the van, seeing TC get out to meet him behind the vehicle.

“Is Thomas sure this guy’s up to something?” TC sounded as confused as Rick felt.

“You have to wonder.” Rick nodded, staring at the small office building on the other side of the lot. “Then again, what’s he doing here?”

“See over there?” TC pointed to the one section of concrete.

“Yeah, it’s concrete. Just like everything else here.” Rick shot back, unimpressed.

“Nah. Look closer.” TC pointed out a few things. “See, there’s some benches, and some of those big decorative pot things – you know, urns – that people use in their gardens.”

Rick looked at TC for a moment, stunned into silence. Then he shook his head and laughed.

“Seriously? Who are you? And what have you done with TC?”

“I’m just saying.” TC laughed too. “This is where you’d expect a landscaper to come.”

“And when did you become such an expert on landscaping? Hang on,” Rick laughed, “is this something else you didn’t tell us? Like dance classes?”

“No, it’s not.” TC was laughing now. “It’s just, you get all sorts of people taking my tours. Some of them have more money than sense, and one couple were talking about doing their garden. Trying to one-up their neighbours, it sounded like, and they wanted concrete urns and benches.”

“Who knew?” Rick marvelled, shaking his head.

“Takes all sorts.” TC agreed sagely. “Here comes our man.”

Rick headed back to his car, indicating that he’d take point this time and seeing TC’s nod before he started his engine. Moments later, they were back on the road.

Ten minutes later, it was clear that the Mercedes was now heading for the docks. Rick couldn’t help but find that odd. He’d been willing to go along with TC’s reasoning at the construction business, but he couldn’t think of a single reason for a landscaper to visit the docks. Especially these docks.

When the Mercedes turned into the dock road and headed out towards Pier 30, Rick was sure something peculiar was going on. As he drove past Pier 21, a chill ran down his spine. It didn’t matter that he’d spoken to Thomas a few hours earlier; all that mattered was that Pier 21 was where they’d found Thomas when Hannah reappeared that first time.

Senses on high alert now, he slowed to a crawl as he watched the Mercedes stop at Pier 28. It had to be a coincidence that Stevens had come here. But it did make their job a bit easier, as they now had a perfect reason to be at the docks.

Rick drove slowly past the Mercedes, seeing how Stevens stared hard at him for a moment. Then Rick turned into Pier 29 and parked near the one car already at the pier. He killed the engine and slid out of the car, watching as TC’s van rolled up moments later. Soon the big man was standing next to him.

“See how he’s watching us?” Rick murmured the question, seeing TC nod. “Not something an innocent man would do, is it?”

Rick turned away and headed for the ship docked at the pier, seeing a familiar face on the deck.

“Lara! Hello.”

“Rick, TC.” Lara headed towards them at once, quickly climbing back onto the pier and wrapping her arms around each of them in turn. A sudden gust of wind blew her long dark hair across her face, and she tucked the wayward strands behind her ears. “It’s so nice to see you both.”

‘We were running an errand for Thomas …” Rick started.

“And we were in the neighbourhood, so we had to stop by.” TC finished.

“An errand for Thomas?” Lara looked at both of them for a long moment, eyes dancing in amusement. “Do I want to know what he’s up to this time? Or am I better off not knowing?”

“You know Thomas.” Rick laughed when Lara nodded.

“Then probably better off not knowing.” Lara laughed, her brown eyes sparking with humour.

Rick smiled back, something inside him relaxing a little at seeing Lara happy. He flicked a quick glance at TC, getting a smile and a nod in return. TC had noticed the change as well.

Nuzo’s death had hit all of them hard, and for a while, he’d worried that it was too much for Lara to bounce back from, even for Jake. The anger and sadness had blanketed her for months, worrying all of the guys.

They’d mourned their fallen brother together, spending hours every night talking about everything they done together. The stories covered everything from pranks on base, to their months in captivity, and over the weeks following the funeral, they’d managed to find ways to live with Nuzo’s absence.

Although, even now, Rick could see that Magnum still blamed himself for Nuzo’s death. Logically, Magnum knew that Nuzo’s death wasn’t his fault, but the guilt had nothing to do with logic. Talking never helped when Magnum let the guilt drag him down again, so he and TC had just taken to showing up at the estate and sticking close to Magnum until he managed to get his balance back.

And now it looked as though Lara had finally managed to do the same.

When she’d helped them salvage the rest of the gold from the Roselita, after Hannah had showed up the first time, Rick had wondered if knowing the reason for Nuzo’s death would help her at all. Greed wasn’t a great reason to kill a good man, but knowing that there was more than just simple greed involved had to be better than thinking that her Sebastian had died for nothing.

It had been a long and painful fourteen months, but it looked as though Lara had finally turned a corner. Thomas would be thrilled to know that Lara looked happy again.

None of them had been able to catch up with Lara in person over the last two months, although she’d assured them in calls and texts that she was fine. Seeing her so relaxed and happy, though, was an unexpected gift. One that Rick was more thankful for than he could find words to express.

“How’s the business going?” Rick asked with a smile.

“We’re doing okay.” Lara nodded. “Maybe even a little better than okay. Sebastian was always careful with the money side of things, and I had enough of a cushion to make it through that first couple of months.”

“Make it through?” TC questioned, puzzled. “Was there a problem you didn’t tell us about?”

“Yes. Sort of.” Lara shrugged one shoulder. “Some people think a woman can’t run a salvage operation as well as a man.”

“Oh, boy.” Rick laughed out loud at that. “I’ll bet you showed them.”

“That I did.” Lara confirmed smugly.

“That’s my girl.” TC pulled Lara in for a quick one-armed hug, smiling broadly.

Raised voices at the next dock caught their attention. Rick and TC both turned to see what was going on, and spotted Nick Stevens yelling at another man.

“Poor Ted.” Lara shook her head, sighing. “That guy has been showing up here and giving him grief for months.”

“Really?” Rick turned to look at Lara again, while TC moved closer to the other dock.

“Yes. Ted had a bad run for a while. About a year ago, his biggest customer shut his business down and relocated to the mainland. Ted was struggling to make payment on his docking fees, he had to lay off two of his guys, he couldn’t get his engine overhauled even though it needed work.”

“You said ‘was’?” Rick offered.

“I did.” Lara nodded. “Then about six – maybe seven – months ago, Ted suddenly had enough money to sort everything out. He even managed to hire back one of the two guys he’d had to lay off.”

“Interesting.” TC had strolled closer and caught the end of what Lara was saying.

“But since then, this sort of thing happens a lot.” Lara waved her hand towards the argument. “I can never hear what the arguments are about, but one of my crew told me that he thinks something odd is going on.”

“He tell you anything else?” Rick was storing away all the random facts, and wondering just what Magnum’s latest case had got him and TC involved in.

“Only that the second guy that Ted laid off wouldn’t come back when Ted called him. He said that there’s a lot of night work now, and he’d rather be home – his wife’s pregnant with their first. And that Ted’s going out sometimes with the running lights off. But mostly, he says Ted always seems tense now, worried.”

“Definitely sounds odd.” Rick agreed, then made a show of checking his watch as he heard the engine of the Mercedes turn over.

“We’ve got to get going on that errand, TC.”

“Yeah, brother.” TC pulled Lara into another quick hug. “You free this weekend?”

“I am.” Lara nodded.

“Swing on by the estate.” TC smiled. “We’ll have a barbecue. Take Jake out surfing with us.”

“We’ll be there.” Lara agreed without hesitation. “He loves going out in the water with his uncles.”

“Can’t wait.” Rick wrapped Lara in a gentle hug as well, smiling happily at seeing the joy back in her eyes.

He’d drop Thomas a message later about the barbecue, although he already knew that Thomas would have no problem with him making plans on his behalf for the weekend. They were all family, after all.

TC was already back at his van, engine idling. Rick waved and indicated that he would follow, and watched as TC drove slowly away from the dock, trailing not far behind the Mercedes.

Once they’d left the dock area, Stevens weaved through traffic for a while as he made his way through the centre of Honolulu, and then headed out of the city. TC remained a block or so behind the Mercedes, keeping a few cars between him and the black car.

Rick followed just a few car lengths behind TC, waiting for his friend to signal a change in their order.

Half an hour outside Honolulu, their target had turned onto an almost-deserted road leading past what looked like pineapple farms. Aside from the Mercedes, there was only one other car on the road, a red hatchback. After another ten minutes, that car turned off the main road and headed down a track which was signposted as the start of a hiking trail.

Moments later, Rick’s phone chimed with a message from TC.

‘Dropping back. Tracking you by your phone.’

Rick didn’t answer, simply accelerating so that he could overtake TC’s van, which had slowed and pulled to the side of the road. He glanced across at TC as he passed, nodding and flashing a quick wave, before settling in behind the black car again.

The black Mercedes sped up slightly, widening the gap between Rick and his target. He pressed a bit harder on the gas, trying to keep that following distance constant, but the other car increased its speed again.

Rick held back, waiting until the black car disappeared around the curve about half a mile down the road. The embankment on the right hid the vehicle from his sight for the time it took him to round the curve himself.

Only to find that the road stretched out empty and deserted in front of him.

Rick swore as he pulled over onto the hard shoulder. He shot out of the car and spun around in a circle, trying to spot any sign of the Mercedes but coming up empty.

A minute later, TC’s van rolled around the curve as well, slowing sharply when Rick waved. TC immediately pulled over behind Rick and piled out of the van.

“And?”

“He was right there in front of me, then he went around this curve. When I got here, he was just … gone.” Rick shook his head, bemused.

“Damn.” TC muttered quietly. “Where’d he go?”

“No idea, TC.” Rick stared around again, as if sheer willpower would make the car appear. He pulled out his phone and marked the location on the map he pulled up on the screen.

“I’ll let Jules know.” Rick stared down at the screen as he tapped out a quick message to their friend, and attached the location pin for where he’d lost the car.

“Now what?” TC wondered, looking around. “Lots of vegetation here.”

“Aerial view, maybe?” Rick suggested.

“Not maybe, Orville.” TC grinned. “Definitely.”

“So we’ll head straight for your place and come back in the chopper.” Rick sighed, annoyed that he’d lost the guy Thomas asked them to follow. “How could I lose a guy in a car that obvious?”

“Don’t worry, brother. TM won’t be mad at you.” TC offered, and Rick realised again just how well his friends knew him. More than anything else, his biggest worries always involved letting his friends down when they depended on him.

“He should be.” Rick muttered angrily. “What if the guy I just lost does something really bad?”

MPI-MPI-MPI


	4. Chapter 4

Nick Stevens was seething.

He weaved through the traffic in Honolulu by instinct, barely seeing most of it past the angry haze that filled his mind. Now he was going to have to head out to the plantation, and talk to Seb about delaying tonight’s shipment.

Today had been going so well, right up to when he’d visited Ted Morkot. You’d think the man would be grateful to have work, and the money it brought in, but all he did was complain.

Stevens sighed and shook his head.

The world was full of idiots. Starting with Lewis Harrison.

They’d known each other since high school, and yet, somehow, Lewis still thought that Nick was in the landscaping business because it was his lifelong dream. How could Lewis have missed the fact that he, Nick, was only in any business for the money?

This morning, he’d spent two hours in the office, sorting out paperwork. Then, he’d spent more hours going from one supplier to another, looking for the frequently ridiculous accoutrements that people wanted to put in their gardens. Concrete benches, fake Greek statues, overblown gazebos and archways for trailing vines – did none of those people ever stop and truly look at their gardens?

Oh well, at least he could charge them exorbitant prices for what they wanted.

But not exorbitant enough.

Over the years he’d spent in honest business, he’d also learned that being honest didn’t make you rich. And rich was what he wanted to be.

If getting rich took bending a few laws, and breaking a few kneecaps … well, he’d found he could live with that.

Which brought him right back to Ted Morkot, and this afternoon’s visit to the docks.

The first few shipments hadn’t been a problem, but now, every time he called the man to organise another delivery run, there were concerns. Hold-ups, delays, endless phone calls.

Every time, he had to pay another visit to the docks and reinforce the facts of the agreement that he’d made with Morkot. People were starting to notice his visits, he was sure. Especially that woman at the next dock.

Today, he’d actually been worried when two other vehicles had followed him to the docks. The fact that they went past Morkot’s boat to the next pier hadn’t really eased his worries, until he’d seen that woman who ran the salvage operation hugging the two guys who’d been driving those cars. Clearly friends of hers, but still a concern for him.

He didn’t need more people seeing him at the docks; not when he might need to deny ever being there in the first place. In spite of the fact that he’d told Morkot, more than once, that there was to be no trail of connections between the two of them, he was seeing more of the man now than he had when he’d first started making use of Morkot’s boat.

It was time he got a new burner phone out of his stash, too. The one he was currently using had too many calls listed from Morkot’s number.

Not to mention the messages he’d been forced to send to that meddling detective.

And how a detective had come to be nosing around his operation, he’d yet to find out. But find out he would, and when he did, whoever had leaked enough information to attract police attention would be very sorry. For the last five minutes of his painful existence.

At least the police hadn’t been nosing around the pier yet. If he had to, he could move the processing operations to another farm, or another warehouse. It would be a major headache to deal with, but it could at least be done quickly. He had reliable men to control that side of the operation for him.

After all, if Seb hadn’t been paying attention last week, he would never have known about that nosy detective. And Seb had been smart enough, for once, not to do anything other than observe and pass the information on to him.

He’d taken care of that situation easily enough. It had been expensive, but there was a lot more money to be made from his little side business. Especially as he knew that Lewis was far too dumb to find the money he was funnelling through H&S Landscapers; he hadn’t noticed it yet, and it wasn’t likely that he would any time soon. If he did have to move his warehouse, he would only have to delay one shipment. Sure, it would slow him down right now, but it wouldn’t derail his long-term plans.

That thought finally managed to calm him down enough that his anger started to ease. He took a good look around and realised that he’d already left the city centre and was heading out towards the plantation.

He dropped his speed until anyone who saw him would think that he was just heading into the countryside for a pleasant afternoon drive. The last thing he wanted to do was attract more police attention by getting a speeding fine.

He cruised along the road, enjoying the way the Mercedes handled on the curves. The road emptied out behind him, and he looked back a couple of times, seeing only a couple of vehicles behind him – some sort of tourist transport van, a red hatchback and, much further back, a silver sports car.

A few minutes later, the hatchback turned off the road. The van stuck with him, though, and an uneasy feeling started to creep down his spine. There was no reason for tourists to come all the way out here – there was nothing particularly interesting to see and no major attractions to visit. Unless they wanted to go hiking.

Then the van slowed and pulled to the side of the road, near an access road to one of the local hiking trails. He felt his shoulders relax. He was simply being paranoid.

Far back, he could see the silver car, but paid no attention to it. He didn’t think it was a concern, but he’d learned over the last year to be cautious.

He accelerated slightly, checking the mirror to see what the silver car was doing. At first, it seemed to be trying to match his speed, and the worry kicked up a notch again. But then it fell slightly further behind again, and he caught himself laughing.

He would bet good money that the driver of that car was doing just what he did on roads like this, far from town: he was letting his car off its leash and indulging his desire to go faster than the law allowed.

Even so, prevention was better than cure, so he’d prefer if no-one knew precisely where he was going. So he pushed harder on the accelerator, going around the next curve at a much-increased speed, then immediately braking sharply before turning onto a hidden side road.

He let the car crawl along the narrow road, knowing that would cut down on the noise of the engine. It would also stop him leaving a dust trail by spinning up the loose sand that had blown across the narrow strip of tarmac. He followed the well-hidden road as it headed deeper through the trees, heading for the plantation.

Seb would be waiting for instructions. And Seb knew better than to disobey, or to fail at carrying out his orders.

After all, Seb had been present when Seb’s predecessor, Larry, had tried thinking for himself. The memory of that day brought a cold smile to Nick’s face.

He hadn’t known, until then, just how good Seb was at digging a grave.

MPI-MPI-MPI

Magnum pulled the Ferrari key from his pocket and pulled up the map on his phone. The blinking dot showing Katsumoto’s phone was holding steady. He watched for a moment, but clearly, wherever he was and whatever he was doing, Katsumoto seemed to have no plans to move.

Or he was unable to move, which was Magnum’s biggest concern. And judging by the look on Juliet’s face, she shared that concern.

“It’s going to take me at least forty-five minutes to get there.” Magnum lifted the phone slightly to indicate the location.

“More like an hour, Magnum.” Higgins said, shooting him a stern look.

“I’m going to take the back roads.” Magnum told her, seeing the disbelief grow in her eyes. “And yes, before you ask, I may go a little faster than the recommended limit.”

“Normally I would suggest you try to restrain yourself, but in this case,” Higgins sighed quietly, “I can only ask, what recommended limit?”

Magnum stared at her for a moment, speechless, then burst out laughing.

“I never thought I’d see the day!”

Higgins kept a poker face for a moment, then laughed as well. “Well, the circumstances are a little different this time. And should Katsumoto indeed be in some sort of difficulty, as we fear, I will even undertake to pay any fine you may incur this afternoon.”

“I’ll hold you to that, Juliet.” Magnum smiled as he turned to leave.

“Be safe, Thomas.” The quiet words followed him to the car, lingering as he turned out of the estate and pressed down hard on the accelerator.

Forty minutes later, he was getting near the marker on his phone. It hadn’t moved at all since he’d left Robin’s Nest, and he was no longer sure that was a good thing. What if it wasn’t moving because the detective wasn’t capable of moving? What if …

“Not going there.” Magnum muttered out loud. “He’s fine. He has to be.”

Five minutes later, he slowed the car to a crawl, watching both sides of the narrow strip of pavement. There was no sign of another car anywhere, so he checked his phone again.

The blinking dot was slightly to the left of his current position. He stopped and looked more closely at the area next to the road. Definitely no Katsumoto. Perhaps his phone was lying in the undergrowth at the side of the road?

Magnum eased forward again, hoping to find enough space alongside the road to pull off and stop. A broader sandy area caught his attention, only yards ahead of him and he eased the Ferrari slowly onto the open space.

But then he realised that what he’d thought was simply a sandy area was actually the turning onto a dirt road, one that turned sharply back on the trajectory of the road and then snaked off into the trees growing in clusters twenty yards from where he sat.

He looked at the marker on his phone again, calculating distances in his head, coming to the conclusion that Katsumoto’s phone was probably about six hundred yards into those trees. He tipped his head to one side, wondering whether to send Higgins a message now, or rather wait until he had eyes on Gordon.

After a moment, he decided to wait until he had something definite to pass on. Then he turned the Ferrari onto the sandy track and crept along it, keeping his speed at only a few miles an hour. Whatever was down this road, there was no point advertising his presence with a dust cloud.

Just under six hundred feet from the turning, he spotted a dust-covered black car. It was pulled as far off the track as possible, and tucked between two large trees. Obviously, Katsumoto hadn’t wanted to be seen either.

Magnum followed the detective’s example, pulling the Ferrari between the next two trees with a sufficient gap between them. Killing the engine, he slid out of the car and pocketed the keys. He closed the map on his phone and dropped the device into his other pocket.

He headed over to the black car, walking all the way around it first. No broken windows, flat tyres, or any indication of damage from an accident. Then he moved close enough to look in the windows.

Nothing lying in view on the seats or floor, no signs of a struggle of any kind. And no sign of Gordon, either.

Magnum looked around, taking in the silence of the area. He strained his ears, but caught no sounds of anything other than birds in the trees. There had to be something more to see here, but he was at a loss to say what it was.

Playing a hunch, he headed past the two cars, heading deeper into the trees. Moments later, he hit pay dirt.

He looked behind him and realised that the cars were now hidden behind foliage, which was why he hadn’t seen this fence from where he’d parked. Not that it was much of a fence, with sections of the wire rusting and barely clinging to the fenceposts. Then again, it wasn’t very likely that anyone would stumble across the fence in the course of a normal day, so the lack of security probably wasn’t an issue.

Still, it proved that there was something on the other side of this hill and whatever that was, it was most likely where Gordon had gone.

Magnum walked slowly along the fence, ducking low-hanging branches and keeping an eye out for roots and trailing vines. The last thing he needed to do was trip, make a noise and get noticed by whoever was on the other side of the fence.

A few hundred feet later, the fence gave way to an equally rusty gate. Which was still firmly padlocked shut. Magnum lifted the padlock and turned it over to see the keyhole, which shone brightly in the sunshine that lit the open section of dirt track in front of the gate.

So the rust on the padlock was just for show. Magnum leaned on the gate to stare further down the track, squinting to focus on a flash of bright light in the shadows thirty feet away. The light resolved into lines and Magnum realised suddenly that he was looking at another gate, this one in good repair.

Two gates on the same dirt road suggested that something on the other side was valuable. Leaving the outer fence in a deliberately run-down state further suggested that while whatever was on the other side of the two fences was valuable, it might also not be completely legal.

There were no footprints on the road between the two gates, so Katsumoto hadn’t been there. Magnum headed back along the fence to where he’d come from, pausing for a moment at that spot before heading further along the fence in the opposite direction.

The fence curved sharply around the trunk of a massive tree, and when Magnum rounded the tree, he couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face.

The rusted wire had been pulled free of the fencepost and bent back far enough that someone could slip through the gap. And that someone, no doubt, was Katsumoto.

“Breaking and entering.” Magnum chuckled quietly. “Just wait until you ask me how I got into a locked building again, Gordy.”

Still smiling, he ducked through the gap and headed further into the wooded area, keeping a sharp eye out for any type of security systems, or cameras. But the trees stayed empty of surveillance, and about thirty feet in, he found the second fence. This fence was still whole, so he headed further away from the gate.

A few minutes later, he found that the rest of the fence was nothing but fenceposts, with rolls of wire lying nearby. It was obviously still under construction, which probably also explained the lack of other security measures. A week from now, and the situation would no doubt be very different. But right now, the incomplete fence was a gift.

He stepped between two fenceposts and headed back the way he’d just come, until he could see the two gates in front of him. Rather than step into the open, he stayed inside the tree line while following the dirt track over the crest of the hill and down towards the coffee plantation.

The trees soon petered out, with only scattered shrubbery covering the open area ahead of him. On the other side of this patch of open ground was the sorriest excuse for a barn that he’d ever seen. Although it stood two stories high, the wood was so rotted that sunlight shone through it, and the huge door at the one end hung by a single hinge.

Nothing moved, so after five minutes, he dashed from the treeline to the barn, plastering himself to the closest wall and waiting for any indication that he’d been spotted. When he heard nothing, Magnum eased around the end of the barn and crouched down to make himself a smaller target. For a second, he cursed his red and white shirt, knowing that it made him a more visible target.

In the far distance, he could see the full plantation, with a number of workers out amongst the trees. He could also see another gate, clearly the main entrance to the plantation, and he watched as a truck drove in and parked next to some pallets piled high with bags.

A few workers started loading the bags onto the truck and Magnum guessed that they were bags of coffee beans.

Between that busy scene and where he was, he could see another barn. It was much bigger and newer than the one he was crouched next to, and clearly in use, based on the tyre tracks leading to the doors.

“Here goes nothing.” The murmur was out before he even thought about it, and then Magnum was moving, hurrying across the open area to flatten himself to the back wall of the new barn.

He could hear voices and although he strained his ears to make out the words, he simply couldn’t hear what was being said. But the tone was clearly one of anger.

Another voice answered and Magnum froze. That was Katsumoto’s voice.

He moved further along the wall, towards the open door, easing behind the door itself to look through the gap below the massive hinges.

There were piles of packing crates near the far wall of the barn, most of them already sealed and ready for shipping. But in the middle of the floor, there were three open crates, full of what looked like dry, black twigs. And just beyond those crates, he could see Katsumoto.

The detective was dressed in jeans, sneakers and a dark blue t-shirt. The clothes were streaked with dirt and what looked like a bruise was blooming on his friend’s face.

Now the words came clear.

“This is illegal.” Katsumoto waved a hand towards the crates, speaking to the man behind him.

That man – tall, dark-haired and wearing dirty jeans and a torn, plaid shirt – chose that moment to step out from behind Katsumoto.

A chill chased down Magnum’s spine as he watched the man shove Katsumoto hard in the back with a large handgun. The detective stumbled and fell to one knee, immediately standing up again. A second later, the man whipped the gun across the back of Katsumoto’s head, and the detective collapsed to the floor.

The tall man made short work of dragging Gordon across the floor to the far corner of the open floor space.

Magnum pulled his phone from his pocket, pulling up the messaging app and starting to type a Mayday to Higgins.

Instinct made him freeze and start to turn before he even heard the tell-tale scuff of a shoe on the dirt behind him. But the warning came too late.

Something hit him hard across the side of the head, and he could feel himself sliding to the ground. He tried to force himself upright, but his body simply refused to follow his brain’s commands.

His fingers clenched around his phone, sliding across the screen before the device fell from his suddenly nerveless hand to land on the ground. Everything faded into the encroaching darkness and then went black.

The light on the screen slowly faded out, but he was unaware that all he’d managed to send to Higgins were three worrying words.

‘Found Gordon. Need …’

MPI-MPI-MPI


End file.
